Key Thought

Today's Prayer

Father, please bless those on my heart who are struggling with broken, aging, and diseased physical bodies. We often find it hard to deal with our mortal physical bodies. However, dear God, please help those on my heart to not lose faith in Jesus' promise that the real and lasting part of them will never die. Give them courage and hope as they face the roughest part of their physical journey on their way to the best part of their spiritual journey. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

Some Jews began to complain about Jesus. They complained because Jesus said, "I am the bread that comes down from heaven." The Jews said, "This is Jesus. We know his father and mother. Jesus is only Joseph's son. How can he say, 'I came down from heaven'?" But Jesus said, "Stop complaining to each other. The Father is the One who sent me. And the Father is the One who brings people to me. I will raise up those people on the last day. If the Father does not bring a person to me, then that person cannot come to me. It is written in the prophets : 'God will teach all the people.' People listen to the Father and learn from him. Those people come to me. I don't mean that anyone has seen the Father. The only person that has ever seen the Father is the One that came from God. That person has seen the Father. I tell you the truth. If a person believes, then that person has life forever. I am the bread that gives life. Your ancestors ate the manna (food) God gave them in the desert. But it didn't keep them from dying. Here is the bread that comes down from heaven. If a person eats this bread, he will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If a person eats this bread, then that person will live forever. This bread is my body. I will give my body so that the people in the world can have life." Then the Jews began to argue among themselves. They said, "How can this man give us his body to eat?" Jesus said, "I tell you the truth. You must eat the body of the Son of Man. And you must drink his blood. If you don't do this, then you don't have real life in you. The person that eats my body and drinks my blood has eternal life. I will raise up that person on the last day. My body is true food. My blood is true drink. If a person eats my body and drinks my blood, then that person lives in me, and I live in that person. The Father sent me. The Father lives, and I live because of the Father. So the person that eats me will live because of me. I am not like thebread that our ancestors ate {in the desert}. They ate that bread. But, {like all people}, they died. I am the bread that came down from heaven. The person that eats this bread will live forever." Jesus said all these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in the city of Capernaum.

Related Scripture Readings

Jesus arrived in Bethany. Jesus found that Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days. Bethany was about two miles from Jerusalem. Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary. They came to comfort them about their brother {Lazarus}. Martha heard that Jesus was coming. She went out to greet Jesus. But Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you anything you ask." Jesus said, "Your brother will rise and be alive again." Martha answered, "I know that he will rise to live again when people are resurrected (raised from death) on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection. I am life. The person that believes in me will have life {again} after he dies. And the person that lives and believes in me will never really die. Martha, do you believe this?"

God once said, "The light will shine out of the darkness!" And this is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts. He gave us light by letting us know the glory of God that is in the face of Christ. We have this treasure {from God}. But we are only like clay jars that hold the treasure. This shows that this great power is from God, not from us. We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We often don't know what to do, but we don't give up.

I tell you the truth. If a person continues to obey my teaching, then that person will never die." The Jews said to Jesus, "Now we know that you have a demon in you! Even Abraham and the prophets died. But you say, 'The person that obeys my teaching will never die.'